A Continual State of Inelegance
by Catherine Chen
Summary: My entry to the Sunny Funny GWTW ficathon. Playful, fun, with a dash of passion. Rhett returns from the oppressive summer heat to find comfort in the cool arms of a bathing beauty. Stole my title from a Jane Austen quote. Enjoy and PLEASE REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

Hello, everyone. This is my entry to the Sunny Funny Gone with the Wind ficathon. This is only my second time with a ficathon so be nice in your criticism. I had a bit of trouble with my assignment so in the words of my beta "Do you have a plot in mind yet, or is it just gonna be pointless yet entertaining fun?"…this is the kind of entry I'm putting forth. Sorry, but I know next to nothing about philosophy and I have no idea what the quote means out of context. I hope you enjoy a lighthearted Scarlett/Rhett story as summer is winding down. And I hope confrontation doesn't mean banter and playfulness. Because I love banter and playfulness. : ) Please review!! Much love, Cat.

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MY ASSIGNMENT: You will be writing the choice of: PICASSINI: Likes/dislikes that are optional for writer:

Likes: Ashley, timeline-shifts, philosophy

Don't like: Confrontation with Rhett

I walk without flinching through the burning cathedral of the summer. (the rest of the quote) My bank of wild grass is majestic and full of music. It is a fire that solitude presses against my lips. ~Violette Leduc, _Mad in Pursuit_

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"I walk without flinching through the burning cathedral of the summer," Rhett intoned dramatically as he tightened his grip on the bulky packages in his arms as he stepped through the doorway, closing the door behind him. Setting his burden down on the table beside the staircase he caught himself as he was about to call for a servant, remembering that he had sent them all off for a week to do what they would. Many were visiting their families or simply spending time without duties to attend to. He didn't begrudge them their well-deserved respite from daily labor. Lord knew it was too hot to do much more than laze about the house, the heavy, Southern heat taking a toll on everyone from the horses who plain refused to leave their stables when the sun was high in the clear, cornflower blue skies to the ladies who spent their days in their parlors, even then fanning themselves furiously lest anyone catch sight of a wet patch of perspiration staining the sides of their elaborately layered costumes.

Still, ever the loving husband, he thought smiling wryly, he had foolishly given into Scarlett's pleading and ventured out into the dreadful head to fetch the gown from the dressmaker's she had purchased to wear at the next social gathering, in a deep, rich forest green of all colors regardless of the heat that showed no signs of dissipating anytime soon, as well as a few other "necessities" that she had thoughtfully written out on a list for him. Rhett grinned and shook his head at his own folly. If anyone had ever suggested to him in his younger days that at this age he'd be letting such a hot-tempered, stubborn, and somehow utterly beguiling Southern miss with a streak of wildness in her lead him around like this he'd have laughed in his face before suggesting he get his head examined.

Now where was she? He'd left her in the parlor this morning after ascertaining that she was not funning him and actually expected him to complete the errands on her list. "Scarlett?" he called out. He frowned slightly. She wasn't in the library either. He'd made a thorough search of all the rooms on the first floor of the house excluding the servants' wing and the kitchens where he was highly doubtful he'd ever discover her.

"Scarlett?" he shouted up the stairs as he bounded up them, his long legs quickly carrying him down the hallway where he couldn't find her in children's rooms which she had no reason to be in as they were visiting with his mother, or in her bedroom.

Rhett turned the knob of his bedroom door, letting out a sigh of relief when he found her neck deep in a tub of water, a book held loosely in her hands. She was so engrossed in whatever she was reading, she didn't hear his footsteps, admittedly quiet for a man of his size, as he made his way across the room and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. She did feel his warm breath against her skin and as though singed by the heat of his lips she bolted up in the tub and swiftly turned around to glare at him, splashing water onto the floor. "Damn and blast! What in the name of all that is holy do you think you're doing?"

He grinned at her unrepentantly, thinking she deserved a lot more for making him trek out of doors in this sort of weather and reflecting on how much she had changed during the course of their marriage, no longer blushing or feigning missish airs when unladylike swearing burst from her saucy, full mouth. With that, he bent down again to kiss her properly only to have her splash bathwater onto his shirt and waistcoat, because thankfully he had already removed his jacket thus saving it from her wrath, and laugh as water dripped from the end of his straight, distinguished nose.

He said nothing, merely rose and wiped his face off with the towel she had lain by the side of the bathtub. "Oh, now look what you've done," she complained. "You've gotten it wet. Now what am I going to use to dry myself off?"

"Rhett! No! No wait! Stop it! Damn it, put me down!" she sputtered as he lifted her into his arms and tossed her onto the bed.

"I'll dry you," he murmured against her neck as she squirmed against him, fighting the languid feeling that had started to flood her limbs. "Rhett, I think I dropped my book in the bath," she argued lamely.

"You didn't."

"But I'm sure I did," she repeatedly stubbornly.

"I'll buy you another," he said, thrusting his hand into her wet hair as he pressed his mouth to hers.

"I liked that one," she said faintly, finding it a little harder to breathe as his lips began to wander down the length of her body.

He wisely declined answering.

"Rhett, really we mustn't. We shouldn't. It's the middle of the day…"

Seeing as her hands were gripping his skull and she was emitting soft moans he didn't pay her objections too much mind.

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872 words. But we're getting a little in the T-M rated zone and the last time I checked the person I'm writing for isn't too fond of that so I'll leave it off here to be finished later (before the deadline, don't worry).


	2. Chapter 2

I know I've been neglecting this for far too long, but I've had so much going on what with starting college and all, it's taken a while. I feel a bit silly writing a summer story in the middle of a freezing cold winter, but it can't be helped. Please accept this update as an apology and come check out part 2 of my Gone with the Wind story A Love That Cannot Die which is sadly in need of readers and reviewers.

**As always, PLEASE REVIEW!!! Much love, Cat.**

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He swept her up into his arms, crossing over to the cabinet and pulled out a towel. Setting her on her feet, he set about drying her. She obediently held out her arm at his insistence, shivering when he took her hand in his, threaded his fingers through hers and pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

"Rhett you haven't fi-finished. Wh-what are you...?" Scarlett couldn't seem to finish a sentence without stuttering, desperately clutching the towel to her chest and struggling to remember just why it would be so terrible to let him continue as his lips grazed her shoulder, the arch of her neck.

"I thought you didn't want me to dry you," he teased, taking the towel from her loosening grip and resuming his task.

"Th-that was before I knew the al-al," she broke off in a peal of laughter when his lips wandered to a particularly sensitive spot behind her ear. "Alternative."

"Do you find my attentions...objectionable?" he murmured, when she sank against him as his hands began to wander, one grazing the underside of her breast to wrap around her waist and support her limp frame, the other tilting up her jaw to give him greater access to her neck.

"At least...at least take me to bed," she said biting back a moan.

"Of course," he conceded, easily lifting her again and laying her on the mattress. He lay beside her and took her into his arms. "Would you like to tell me what your book was about?"

"Rhett?"

"Hmn?" She was walking her fingers up his chest and undoing the buttons of his shirt so he was finding it somewhat difficult to concentrate.

"Stop talking."

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I know I said M. The story didn't really feel like it needed it. I will of course be happy to hear what you have to say. I hope you enjoyed it as a snippet.


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